AS arrangements for the Osun governorship election scheduled for July 16 peak, all eyes are on the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure a credible and peaceful balloting. The commission had previously conducted similar off-season polls in Anambra, Edo, Ondo and Ekiti states. The Osun ballot will once again demonstrate the level of INEC’s preparedness and capability for the 2023 general elections.
Thankfully, the Bimodal Verification Accreditation System deployed by INEC seems to have worked more efficiently during the recently held Ekiti election in June, as observed by the British High Commission and other election observers, unlike in Edo, Ondo, and Anambra states. However, the commission needs to improve on its logistics and perfect its IT tools. It also needs to strengthen its collaboration with the security agencies to ensure hitch-free voting.
The Ekiti election revealed a new and unprecedented level of vote-buying. How to prevent this in Osun, as well as the usual incidents of violence, ballot-box snatching and vote-rigging, should be key aspects of the strategies INEC and the police and other security agencies should work out.
Of the “four key elements” of democracy identified by the celebrated American political scientist, Larry Diamond—free and fair elections, active citizen participation, human rights, and the rule of law—it is the first, said USAID, that advances democratisation and encourages political liberalisation. Flawed elections alienate the people and delegitimise a government. INEC and the police have a duty to ensure free and fair elections on Saturday and beyond.
The Ekiti election was characterised by brazen and outrageous vote-buying and other electoral malpractices, putting to question the legitimacy of the entire process. The National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, Yabagi Sani, stated, “It is obvious that the voters who sold their ballots for a mess of electoral porridge have inadvertently mortgaged their future for the next four years.”
Vote-trading and other electoral malpractices compromise elections in Nigeria and deny the country of the most capable hands in public offices. A study by Open Democracy in 2016 found that “nearly 80 per cent of voters from 36 African countries believe voters are bribed – sometimes, often, or always. Furthermore, 16 per cent of voters in African countries reported being offered money or goods in exchange for their vote.” Monetisation of votes should have no place in a democracy.
For the people of Osun, their future lies in their own hands. They should not, like many voters in Ekiti did, sell their votes and consciences for measly lucre, or be enticed by bags of rice, and other edibles that cannot feed them for even a month. Doing so, they would thereafter have to endure poor governance for another four years. Voting decisions should be hinged only on the issues that affect the lives and well-being of the electorate and the perceived competence of candidates, not transient and paltry pecuniary gains.
During the pre-election debate organised by Channels Television, the issues of security, education, and economic progress in the state were highlighted. The candidates made a divergent range of promises and intended policies, which call for much introspection from the electorate, as these will determine their future prospects. These should be the basis of choosing.
The police must prevent violence. Already, inter-party and intra-party rivalry in the state has witnessed multiple incidents of violence. This must not spill over into the polling. For too long, Nigeria’s elections have been marred by violence. INEC has recorded over 41 attacks carried out against its offices across 14 states since the 2019 general elections. The human cost has been higher. INEC said no fewer than 1,149 persons, including electoral officers, police officers, and voters, were killed between 2011 and 2019 during post-election violence in various parts of the country.
Major political parties in Osun have been trading mutual allegations of planned violence. The police should take proactive measures, deploy their intelligence-gathering machinery and apprehend anyone plotting mayhem. They should beam their searchlight on leaders of the transport unions who have become the major perpetrators of political and electoral violence in the South-West. They and their sponsors should be ruthlessly dealt with.
The umpire and the security agencies should collaborate to ensure that electoral offenders are prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This will send a strong message to others that the 2023 elections will not be business as usual.
The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, has ordered the deployment of the supervisory Deputy Inspector-General for the South-West, Johnson Kokumo, four Assistant IGPs, four Commissioners of Police, 15 Deputy Commissioners of Police and 30 Assistant Commissioners of Police for the election. They should also provide adequate security and aerial surveillance for the electorate via helicopters and aerial vehicles to prevent ballot box snatching, harassment of voters, attacks on electoral officials, INEC employees, and destruction of the commission’s assets. Security agencies should ensure that the Osun election is peaceful and credible.
The police and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission should apprehend the party foot-soldiers who distribute money, or make promises of the same at polling areas and punish the act when it occurs. The EFCC reportedly arrested some suspects who engaged in vote-buying during the Ekiti governorship poll. This is commendable. They should be prosecuted. Law enforcement agencies should go after those ferrying huge sums of money around on Election Day in violation of extant anti-money laundering laws no matter their political or social status.
With the sensitive nature of the Osun election, political party leaders should rein in their followers to ensure that there is peace and ensure that no one is induced, threatened, or lured to vote against their conscience. The registered voters should troop out to vote in exercise of their basic right. They also have a civic duty to choose their own leaders and thereby enthrone responsive and accountable governance. Their destiny is in their hands, they should vote wisely.
